Seven experiments are described which permit estimation of the "solvent water" or the "osmotically active water" of the dissected fiber from the giant barnacle, Balanus nubilus. Each of the first four experiments includes the measurement of a free ion activity in the myoplasm by means of a Na+, K+, or Cl- ion-specific microelectrode. The fifth experiment makes use of a membrane potential vs. [K]o curve. The last two experiments measured fiber water and fiber volume as bath osmolarity was changed. The seven independent estimations of solvent water ranged from 0.64 to 0.72 of fiber water with a mean of 0.68. Since the extracellular space of single fibers was about 7% of fiber water, it was concluded that 25% of analyzable water was not acting as solvent for the osmotically active solutes in the myoplasm.
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October 01 1970
Solvent Water for Electrolytes in the Muscle Fiber of the Giant Barnacle
J. A. M. Hinke
J. A. M. Hinke
From the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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J. A. M. Hinke
From the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Received:
February 02 1970
Online Issn: 1540-7748
Print Issn: 0022-1295
Copyright © 1970 by The Rockefeller University Press
1970
J Gen Physiol (1970) 56 (4): 521–541.
Article history
Received:
February 02 1970
Citation
J. A. M. Hinke; Solvent Water for Electrolytes in the Muscle Fiber of the Giant Barnacle . J Gen Physiol 1 October 1970; 56 (4): 521–541. doi: https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.56.4.521
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